title: Social learning of predators in the dark: understanding the role of visual, chemical and mechanical information.
abstract: The ability of prey to observe and learn to recognize potential predators from the behaviour of nearby individuals can dramatically increase survival and, not surprisingly, is widespread across animal taxa. A range of sensory modalities are available for this learning, with visual and chemical cues being well-established modes of transmission in aquatic systems. The use of other sensory cues in mediating social learning in fishes, including mechano-sensory cues, remains unexplored. Here, we examine the role of different sensory cues in social learning of predator recognition, using juvenile damselfish (Amphiprion percula). Specifically, we show that a predator-naive observer can socially learn to recognize a novel predator when paired with a predator-experienced conspecific in total darkness. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that when threatened, individuals release chemical cues (known as disturbance cues) into the water. These cues induce an anti-predator response in nearby individuals; however, they do not facilitate learnt recognition of the predator. As such, another sensory modality, probably mechano-sensory in origin, is responsible for information transfer in the dark. This study highlights the diversity of sensory cues used by coral reef fishes in a social learning context.
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia. rachel.manassa@my.jcu.edu.au
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Manassa
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: McCormick
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Chivers
authors.forename: M C O
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ferrari
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000502:physiology; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D057894:Coral Reefs; D003463:Cues; D003624:Darkness; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology; D007858:Learning; D009812:Odorants; D010473:Perciformes / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D011235:Predatory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D012919:Social Behavior; D014796:Visual Perception
keywords: coral reef fishes; disturbance cues; predator recognition; social learning; visual cues